Best surreal movies
 

I will start with few
- The revenant
- Annihilation
- Apocalypse now

Are those really surreal? When I think of surrealist films, I think of Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, Santa Sangre, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.

Re: Best surreal movies
 

Does La Dolce Vita count as surreal? It felt like it was, but I cannot put my finger on why exactly.

That's what I was thinking. Well Annihilation was kinda surreal, but I wouldn't call it best.

Nah, not really. But of course anyone can call it surreal if they want.

I should note I’m not a huge fan of Surrealism. I think Bunuel has done it best from what I’ve seen.

Re: Best surreal movies
 

Like Ironpony, I'm not sure if I know what surrealistic films are?

Eraserhead?
Deadman?
Solaris? (which is today's addition to the excellent Foreign Language Countdown)

Eraser head for sure.

Honestly, I think someone like Siddon, or Jinnistan (who I think is a fan of surrealism) cousin rattle off more.
I know Bunuel and Jodorowsky films are.
To add to Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive as well.

Meshes of the Afternoon

Nightbeast is displeased you didn’t take this opportunity to name him.

There was quite a bit of surrealism in Hitchcock's Spellbound. Salvador Dali had been hired to design long surreal portions to be used for dream sequences. Quite a bit of it was cut in the final print, but what was left was very effective.

It's too realistic to fit the bill.

Re: Best surreal movies
 

Not sure what specifically fits the definition but my favourite film that feels right is probably Wax: or The Discovery of Television Among the Bees.

Re: Best surreal movies
 

Tetsuo, The Iron Man

Re: Best surreal movies
 

Bertrand Blier's "Buffet Froid" may be my favorite. One of my most re-watched films.

Louis Malle's "Zazie dans le metro" is not far behind, it's a great adaptation of one of my favorite books (one of my most re-read), by one of the founders of surrealism. Also the film features one the best dream sequence ever, especially its ending.

"Hellzapoppin" is a classic in humorous nonsense.

Most Terry Gilliam movies would qualify.

And of course, most Buñuel, Fellini, Bergman...

I was thinking Brazil, Un Chien Andalou, Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life, El Topo, Enter The Void, 8 1/2, maybe Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders, that sort of thing.

Re: Best surreal movies
 

I think a word like "surreal" can be hard to define, and although a movie may contain a plot that takes twists and turns that border on the surreal, it doesn't automatically make the movie as a whole surreal. However, I think all these movies more and less might qualify:

One Point O
Delicatessen
Pi
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
The Antenna
Hausu
Jacob's Ladder
Peter No-Tail In Americat
Eraserhead
Videodrome
The City Of Lost Children
The Holy Mountain
Altered States
Brazil
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Tetsuo: Body Hammer
Mulholland Drive
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie
Begotten

Re: Best surreal movies
 

Also, I wouldn't qualify any of the OP's list as surreal, so I'm not sure what we're talking about.

Surrealism is a specific series of irrational non-sequiturs that make sense only at a symbolic, aesthetic or subconscious level. Some sort of dream logic that don't follow the rules of real life, but evoke a deeper truth or meaning, not filtered by reflection. An attempt to reach the instinctive, pre-reflexive self. Surrealists were fascinated by the emergence of psychiatry (the idea of the subconscious), and by "primitive art" (that didn't follow our internalized codes and expectations), and methods that short-circuited our reflexivity (such as "automated writing", or artistic constraints based on pure chance). And of course, used this as a material for quite elaborate pieces (you can't make a film, paint or write a book without putting your mind to it).

In cinema, I'd simply call "surrealist" a film that has a dream-like quality that clashes with rational, material possibilities, but still evoke emotions that "feel true" at a level that logic cannot express. A bit like poetry. Which is distinct from being just clumsily illogical, or coherently supernatural.

And the OP is possibly asking for something completely different ?

Holy Motors ?

Blade Runner

Surreal movie for sure, in fact I'm looking at the dvd as I type this.